David Metsky
Well-known member
This was quite the cosmopolitan trip, with participants from France (Stephanie), South Africa (Zack), Austria (Elizabeth), New Zealand (Kea), Wisconsin (Geri), New Jersey (moi), and Massachusetts (Bob). We drove up Friday night to the Tarry Ho campground where Bob and Geri have parked their modestly-sized trailer. We tented at a nearby site and wandered over to Chez Hayes for breakfast in the morning.
For Saturday, supposedly the better day of the weekend, we chose to hike Eisenhower and Pierce, with cars at Edmands and Crawford. We dropped my Subaru at the Mt Clinton Road lot and piled into the Hotel Suburban for the drive to Edmands Path. The hike up was steady and conversational. Everyone was expecting warmer weather but it was fairly blustery up top. The group was making fun of my big pack but stopped laughing when I handed out jackets, fleece, hat and gloves.
We had the summit to ourselves, but no views. It was Zack, Elizabeth, and Stephanie's first 4000'er, but it could have just as easily been a windy parking lot. Rather than hang out in the wind we headed down to the Crawford Path for lunch, where we got some nice views as the clouds dissipated. The trip to Pierce was surprisingly wet in places due to recent rain. Up near the summit of Pierce was brand new puncheons (log bridges) made of sawn lumber. They looked good.
Our original plan was to go down Crawford Path to the car but we decided to swing by the hut instead. Two minutes after we arrived it started raining, so we made a good choice. The rain left quickly and we continued down to the cars for a fine end of day. Back to Tarry Ho for showers, appetizers, and a fine grilled dinner of veggies, tofu, steak tips and chicken, followed up by guitar and singing. Then off to bed.
Sunday was supposed to be the lesser weather day, but it looked to be spectacular so Franconia Ridge was our destination. We got there around 9:00 and started hiking by 9:15. Due to recent rain the waterfalls on Falling Waters were running quite well. On up we went but Elizabeth's knee was begining to hurt. We hit the ridge around noon and it was absolutely perfect; fewer people then a Saturday, warm but not hot, bright sun, a slight wind to keep the bugs away, low humidity, and clear, dry air for killer views.
We headed up to Lincoln for lunch and lounging, then on to Lafayette. Along the way we met Vegamatic who volunteers as an Alpine Steward on the weekends. Thanks for all your work, tough place to be at the office. There were relatively few folks on Lafayette, but we met Randy the dog who carried a big stick all the way from the parking lot. Then down to the hut, and Elizabeth's knee was really begining to hurt.
We all decided to keep the group together for the descent and eventually made it to the car at around 5:00. Bob, Geri, and the limping Austrian headed back to camp to pack up, the rest of us piled in the Subaru and headed south. Approximately 4 minutes after starting the car I was the only one awake, which was good since I was driving.
All the Photos
Video (warning, long)
-dave-
For Saturday, supposedly the better day of the weekend, we chose to hike Eisenhower and Pierce, with cars at Edmands and Crawford. We dropped my Subaru at the Mt Clinton Road lot and piled into the Hotel Suburban for the drive to Edmands Path. The hike up was steady and conversational. Everyone was expecting warmer weather but it was fairly blustery up top. The group was making fun of my big pack but stopped laughing when I handed out jackets, fleece, hat and gloves.
We had the summit to ourselves, but no views. It was Zack, Elizabeth, and Stephanie's first 4000'er, but it could have just as easily been a windy parking lot. Rather than hang out in the wind we headed down to the Crawford Path for lunch, where we got some nice views as the clouds dissipated. The trip to Pierce was surprisingly wet in places due to recent rain. Up near the summit of Pierce was brand new puncheons (log bridges) made of sawn lumber. They looked good.
Our original plan was to go down Crawford Path to the car but we decided to swing by the hut instead. Two minutes after we arrived it started raining, so we made a good choice. The rain left quickly and we continued down to the cars for a fine end of day. Back to Tarry Ho for showers, appetizers, and a fine grilled dinner of veggies, tofu, steak tips and chicken, followed up by guitar and singing. Then off to bed.
Sunday was supposed to be the lesser weather day, but it looked to be spectacular so Franconia Ridge was our destination. We got there around 9:00 and started hiking by 9:15. Due to recent rain the waterfalls on Falling Waters were running quite well. On up we went but Elizabeth's knee was begining to hurt. We hit the ridge around noon and it was absolutely perfect; fewer people then a Saturday, warm but not hot, bright sun, a slight wind to keep the bugs away, low humidity, and clear, dry air for killer views.
We headed up to Lincoln for lunch and lounging, then on to Lafayette. Along the way we met Vegamatic who volunteers as an Alpine Steward on the weekends. Thanks for all your work, tough place to be at the office.
There were relatively few folks on Lafayette, but we met Randy the dog who carried a big stick all the way from the parking lot. Then down to the hut, and Elizabeth's knee was really begining to hurt.We all decided to keep the group together for the descent and eventually made it to the car at around 5:00. Bob, Geri, and the limping Austrian headed back to camp to pack up, the rest of us piled in the Subaru and headed south. Approximately 4 minutes after starting the car I was the only one awake, which was good since I was driving.
All the Photos
Video (warning, long)
-dave-
